Have You Bought A Memory Card On Ebay Or On Any Online Stores? Were They Legit Or Fake?

Discussion in Computers, Electronics & Gadgets started by sidney • Jan 7, 2013.

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  1. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I was wondering if any of you guys have bought memory cards on eBay or on any online stores. I'm currently looking for an M2 type of memory card, and since I can't find genuine ones in the malls here in our country, I decided to search for it online. I'm currently looking for a genuine Sony M2 memory card in particular, but I'd be happy with SanDisk if I can't find any genuine Sony M2 memory card.

    Now the problem is Ebay has many counterfeit dealers of memory cards, so I'm hesitant to buy one there, unless someone recommends a particular seller to me with whom they had a good experience with when they bought an item.

    So have you bought a memory card (any kind) online? Which Ebay seller or online store can you recommend? I live outside the US, that's why even if the item is available in the official Sony website, I still can't buy it. And I also can't purchase stuff on Amazon, since I don't have a credit card.

    Or was your experience in buying a memory card online a bad one? Feel free to share it too, so that other people can be warned and so that they can stay away from a particular seller.
     
    #1Jan 7, 2013
  2. kevin228

    kevin228New Member

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    I've bought two 32GB memory cards on Ebay before and they are horrible. The memory on them is fake. The sellers spoof the memory on a smaller memory card to make it look like it is an actual 32GB; for example, they take a 2GB memory card and they change the capacity to say 32GB instead of 2GB. And, when you fill up the 2GB, the real memory, everything else after the initial 2GB becomes corrupt and hindered useless.
     
    #2Jan 7, 2013
  3. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Yeah that's what I'm afraid of, that I might end up buying a fake one. But there is a software that tests your memory card's capacity to determine if it's fake or not, I just forgot it's name. Was the price of your memory card way below the original one? That's a sure fire way to know if the item is fake. I'm also hesitant to buy from the sellers in China, since we all know that the fake goods originate from there.
     
    #3Jan 8, 2013
  4. ACSAPA

    ACSAPAWell-Known Member

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    You mentioned that you don't have a credit card. Do you have Paypal? The Walmart website Walmart.com accepts Paypal and sells Sandisk memory cards and others. Since Walmart is an international chain, they do not sell fake bootleg merchandise. They have a good return policy too.
     
    #4Jan 8, 2013
  5. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I live in Asia, and I checked out Walmart just now, and unfortunately, they only ship to the US. But thanks for the suggestion anyway.
     
    #5Jan 15, 2013
  6. deansaliba

    deansalibaActive Member

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    Surely you could just look at their feedback score? Or am I being really dumb here?
     
    #6Jan 15, 2013
  7. jane211

    jane211Member

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    I agree. The best thing to do before buying on eBay would be to check the feedback. If the seller is selling fake memory cards then some of the buyers will make that clear in the feedback.

    If you want to buy memory cards from eBay then it's a good idea to look for a company name you can trust. A lot of well-established companies sell on eBay now and they would sell genuine products.

    Your only other way of buying from Amazon if you don't have a credit card is to get a pay as you go credit card. Mine cost me about £4.95, but I like it for using online as I can just load some money on it to cover a transaction and I don't need to worry about giving my other card details out.

    Alternatively, there are a lot of survey sites that pay in Amazon gift cards, you might be able to earn a voucher that way and pay for the memory card with the voucher, rather than a credit card.
     
    #7Jan 15, 2013
  8. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I don't think that it's enough to just rely on a seller who has a great feedback, because sometimes the fake memory cards actually work, so the buyer has no idea that they bought a fake one. And sometimes, you have to wait to fill up the card before it starts to malfunction, so unless they fill up the card with more than 4 gb data immediately after buying it, it would take some time for you to realize that the card is fake.

    Thanks for the tip, but how can I get a pay as you go credit card? Is it similar to Entropay?
     
    #8Jan 17, 2013
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2013
  9. nick87

    nick87Active Member

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    I don't trust buying memory cards from ebay because there's a huge problem with fakes from china on there. I only trust sites like amazon or newegg for those.
     
    #9Feb 7, 2013
  10. schomeearnings

    schomeearningsBanned

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    I have taken advantage of buying several things on Ebay when it comes to my PC needs and have never ran into an issue. I do try to work with people that I see have the highest seller rating. I have also used Amazon too. I also try to keep my purchases in the U.S. only. I ordered my first memory card from Ebay and had no complaints it came in on time and everything. I am pretty sure if something didn't go right Ebay should want to correct it to make amends and do the right thing.
     
    #10Feb 22, 2013
  11. addicted_buyer

    addicted_buyerExpert

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    I've bought a couple MicroSD cards from some sellers called extremeprocessor and taiwanlien. One was a 16GB one and the other one was a 32GB one, both genuine Samsung ones, and way cheaper than in any other store I could find.
     
    #11Feb 22, 2013
  12. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    So those sellers are from Ebay too? I googled both sellers, but I can only find taiwanlien. Well good for you that your Samsung memory cards are genuine, but I think that taiwanlien is also selling some fake memory cards based from his feedback and on this link, so be careful.

    Log In

     
    #12Feb 27, 2013
  13. addicted_buyer

    addicted_buyerExpert

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    That's odd. I did test mine using that software right after I got it, and also checked the brand's official website to verify if it was original or not, and it was.
     
    #13Feb 27, 2013
  14. steph84

    steph84Active Member

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    I have bought so many memory cards from ebay and they were all real. Just make sure you read the seller's feedback to see who you are doing business with. I always read the feedback first before purchasing. Check out Amazon if you're afraid of scammers.
     
    #14Feb 27, 2013
  15. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Well maybe he sells a mix a original and fake memory cards, that's why he had some negative feedback. Sandisk and Sony are the ones being copied the most, and you bought Samsung, so at least you did not purchase the brands that are liable to be faked.

    I see, care to share which sellers on Ebay do you buy from? So that I can check them out too.
     
    #15Feb 28, 2013
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2013
  16. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

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    I was going to recommend Newegg.com. I get most of my computer parts from that site. They don't ship internationally.
    But they have a China branch.

    Log In

    I hope you can find what you need there.
     
    #16Mar 1, 2013
  17. addicted_buyer

    addicted_buyerExpert

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    I actually bought one from the "Team" brand from him, 16GB and class 10 for a cheap price. I had no problems formatting it to NTFS to copy large files (like 720p and 1080p movies) and the reading/writing speeds are the same as in the Samsung one (32GB and class 10) I bought on DealExtreme - which is genuine too. With a USB 3.0 reader I bought recently, most files transfer at 18GB/s, which is a decent speed. I also checked the card's serial number on Team's website, and it's also legit.

    What @Parker suggests is a good idea, you should check Newegg's Chinese branch and see if they ship internationally. However, I suggest you do NOT spend a lot of money on shipping just to get an SD card from them. Most large stores that offer international shipping charge a lot of money to ship even something as small as an SD card!
     
    #17Mar 1, 2013
  18. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Thanks for the tips guys, I just checked out the China version of newegg, and they don't seem to sell any M2 memory cards. So I tried looking on Ebay again, and luckily I found one, it's Sony and the seller is from the UK, so it must be genuine, because the item packaging is the same as the original ones, so I hope I made the right choice. Years ago my brother actually bought a fake (sold as "Class A") Sony M2 memory card in one of the malls here in my country, so at least I have a "fake packaging indicator guide". So when I see a seller in Ebay having the same packaging as that fake M2, I instantly know that it's not genuine. My brother told me that his fake M2 did malfunction after a short while.

    I think having a company website is a good indicator that your memory card is a quality product. I never heard of Team before, but now I will try to buy one of their products when the need arises. Because the more they get popular, then the prices will now start to rise. ;)
     
    #18Mar 3, 2013
  19. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

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    I'm sorry that the China's version of Newegg didn't have what you needed. I actually very surprised at that. I am glad that you were able to get what you needed on eBay. Hopefully, it's the real deal.
     
    #19Mar 8, 2013
  20. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    Well I assume that it's a new site, because before I only know of the US version of newegg. So maybe they didn't feel the need to stock up on an outdated memory card variant. Anyway, I just got my M2 memory card from Ebay, and luckily it is a genuine one, with the right packaging indicators and the warranty leaflets from Sony. I read on Sony's website that genuine Sony memory cards should always include a warranty card and operating instructions in the package. Well it helps that the seller uploaded his own image of the item that he was selling and he did not just copy the images from Son'y website.
     
    #20Mar 22, 2013
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